The invention relates to an object storage station having a front area for loading the objects, a back, and two sidewalls arranged on opposite sides, and having object holding rails with support surfaces arranged in pairs on opposite sides extending substantially horizontally along the sidewalls in the interior of the object storage station. The invention further relates to a climatic chamber.
Such object storage stations are known from WO 98/05753. The object storage stations disclosed in that document have openings along their sides. These openings are arranged differently relative to the objects to be received in the object storage stations, i.e., relative to the microtitration plates. As a result, the individual microtitration plates are subject to dissimilar airflows guided through the openings. Such dissimilar airflows lead to dissimilar growth conditions for the preparations contained in the microtitration plates. The dissimilar arrangement of the microtitration plates relative to the lateral openings leads to non-uniform contamination of the object storage station, which complicates autoclavability and reduces its success. The objects are guided in mounts that are punched out of the side parts. These mounts are point-like. They support the microtitration plates only in the front and the rear area, so that the microtitration plates have to be inserted into the object storage station precisely horizontally to prevent them from becoming jammed. The punched-out mounts, due to their design, are relatively difficult to autoclave.
The object of the present invention is to improve the known solutions and, in particular, to improve the autoclavability of the object storage stations.
According to the invention, this object is attained by the characterizing features as described herein. The sidewalls, according to the invention, have several identical, horizontally extending openings located over each other and arranged in identical number and position and always at an identical distance from adjacent openings in the two sidewalls. The number of openings in each sidewall corresponds to the number of object holding rails of that sidewall, and each opening is spaced at the same distance from the nearest object holding rail. This simplifies autoclavability since the entire area is subject to relatively uniform contamination. Such an arrangement has the further advantage that the lateral airflow flowing around the inserted objects, e.g., microtitration plates, is uniform so that the growth conditions in all the mutually superimposed microtitration plates are uniform. As a result, cell growth within the microtitration plates can be optimized.
It is particularly advantageous that the object holding rails are arranged below the openings. This protects the sides of the objects (e.g., microtitration plates) and allows the airflow to move over the objects. For simple maintenance it is particularly advantageous that the object holding rails are detachably arranged on the side parts. This is particularly advantageous if the object holding rails are made of plastic. They can also be made of metal, however, e.g., high-grade steel (as well as optionally also the other components of the object storage station) and can be fixed to the sidewalls. It is furthermore advantageous that each of the object holding rails, at least at the end facing the front area, is provided with at least one stop element on its upper side. This prevents the objects from independently sliding out of the storage station if the station is tilted, e.g., during transport. Advantageously, identical stop elements are arranged on the upper and lower sides of the object holding rails at the ends facing the front area and/or the back. This makes it possible to use standardized object holding rails in like manner on both sidewalls of the object storage station.
It is particularly advantageous that the edges of the object holding rails facing the sidewalls are provided with support strips that contact the corresponding side wall and extend at least above the support surfaces of the object holding rails. The cross section of the support strips formed perpendicularly to the sidewall and perpendicularly to the support surface of the object holding rail is wider at the junction to the object holding rails, as measured perpendicularly to the sidewall, than at the ends facing away from this junction. In this connection it is advantageous that the width of the cross section changes continuously. This creates a sloping plane on both sides of the object holding rails, so that the objects to be received are centered as they are inserted. This compensates any tolerances in width or positioning of the objects. The support strips can also extend below the object holding rails and thereby increase the stability of the object holding rails.
A second embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the object holding rails are held in at least two fixing eyelets arranged horizontally side by side in the sidewalls, by fixing projections disposed on the holding rails. The fixing eyelets extend in vertical direction. One fixing projection of a respective object holding rail is locked in the lower area of the associated fixing eyelet and the at least one additional fixing projection is held in the lower area of the associated fixing eyelet so as to be horizontally displaceable. Thus, the object holding rails are held in a defined manner but are nevertheless detachable. By locking one fixing projection while simultaneously ensuring the displaceability of additional fixing projections it is possible to compensate different temperature-dependent expansion characteristics of the sidewalls of the object storage station on the one hand and the object holding rails on the other hand. This is particularly important if the object holding rails are made of plastic whereas the sidewalls of the object storage station are normally made of metal.
Advantageously, each of the object holding rails is held to a sidewall by means of three fixing projections. Particularly advantageously, the central fixing projection is locked in the associated fixing eyelet. This ensures uniform expansion at either end of the object holding rails.
Advantageously, the fixing projections have an approximately circular cross section and between their outer end and the object holding rail a reduced cross section compared to the outer end. The upper part of a fixing eyelet is suitably shaped to receive the outer end of a fixing projection whereas the lower part is shaped to receive the reduced cross section of the fixing projection. In this case, the fixing projections of the object holding rails are guided through the larger upper end of the fixing eyelets and then pushed downwardly into the part with the reduced cross section, so that the object holding rails are securely mounted to the sidewalls. It is particularly advantageous that the cross section of the lower part of the fixing eyelets that are provided for the horizontally displaceable mounting of a fixing projection is larger than the reduced cross section of the fixing projection.
The invention furthermore relates to a climatic chamber with at least one inventive object storage station.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.